The Supreme Court on Monday raised the question of how can chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' be a crime. A bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Sandeep Mehta was hearing a petition challenging the decision of the Karnataka High Court. The High Court had quashed legal action against two persons who allegedly raised Jai Shri Ram slogans inside the mosque.
The petition in the apex court was filed by Haider Ali C.M. The bench remarked, that those people were shouting a particular religious slogan or name. How can this be a crime? The Supreme Court also asked how the people who went inside the mosque and raised slogans were identified. The petition challenged the September 13 order of the Karnataka High Court, in which criminal proceedings against two accused were quashed.
The apex court asked - how did you identify the accused?
The bench asked senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for the petitioner, how did you identify these people? You are saying that all of them are visible in the CCTV. Have the persons who entered the mosque been identified? Kamat said the High Court had quashed the proceedings while the investigation of the case was incomplete. On this, the bench said that the High Court observed that the allegations did not meet the elements of Section 503 (criminal intimidation) or Section 447 (illegal entry) of the IPC.
The case will be heard in January 2025
When the bench asked whether you have been able to identify the persons who entered the mosque? Kamat said that only the state police can answer this. After this, the Supreme Court fixed the hearing of the case for January 2025.
What did the Karnataka High Court say in its decision?
The Karnataka High Court had said in its order that it is incomprehensible how if someone shouts Jai Shri Ram, it can hurt the religious sentiments of any class. The High Court also said that there was no allegation in the complaint that the incident caused public unrest or any kind of dispute.
The incident took place in September last year.
According to the complainant, the incident took place on 24 September 2023 and two people entered the mosque raised religious slogans, and then threatened. After this, a complaint was lodged at the Kadaba police station of Puttur Circle. The High Court said that there are no elements of crime in the allegations, so taking legal action against them would be an abuse of law and injustice to justice.
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